Tom Hanks Wins Tabloid Apologies for 'Nonsense' Divorce Reports

Tom Hanks is Hollywood's resident Mr. Nice Guy, but you do not want to mess with him and his family. In a rare battle (and quick win) over tabloids, Hanks and wife Rita Wilson got apologies, retractions, and print corrections from two magazines posting cheating and divorce allegations.

According to Reuters, both the National Enquirer and Star Magazine changed their stories after Hanks and Wilson fought back.

The Enquirer had posted a report alleging "$400 million marriage crumbling" over Hanks's love for Meg Ryan. But not long after that, they posted this statement on their website:

"In the October 10, 2016 issue of The National Enquirer, we did not intend to report that Tom Hanks was having any kind of an inappropriate relationship with Meg Ryan, or that he and Rita Wilson were divorcing. We apologize for and regret any implication to the contrary."

Star Magazine's story had gone with a Felicity Jones angle, referencing Hanks's co-star in the upcoming movie "Inferno." They subsequently posted:

"In the October 3, 2016 issue of Star magazine, we did not intend to report that Tom Hanks was having any kind of an inappropriate relationship with Felicity Jones, or that he and Rita Wilson were divorcing. We apologize for and regret any implication to the contrary."

The Hollywood Reporter quoted a statement from Hanks and Wilson, who have been married since 1988, saying in the past they just laughed off tabloid stories, but their 29th anniversary is coming up, and they consider their marriage to be "the foundation of our family." So they lawyer-ed up and went on the offense:

"No true news organization could report that our marriage is on the brink of breaking up, but American Media Inc., owner of Star and The National Enquirer, often run fabricated stories to sell their tabloids. In the past, we laughed off their cover stories of our soon-to-be acrimonious divorce because those stories were so far from true, they were laughable. But our marriage is the foundation of our family, is sacred to us, and we couldn't allow such nonsense as we are about to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary next April. For Star and National Enquirer to profit by dishonoring what is so precious to us with such falsehoods were, we decided, lies we would not put up with any longer."

A "source" told THR the couple were prepared to have their lawyer, Marty Singer, take legal action as far as necessary to get that retraction. They wanted to set an example that false reports should not be tolerated as the status quo. Apparently it worked, so maybe instead of just ignoring any future "lies" other celebs should attempt the same.